The Monterio Family
by Princess Luka Vocalzal
Summary: When Linda and Tulio discovers that Fernando has no true family of his own, they take him in as their own, intent on giving him the family he was long denied. Will they fulfill this promise? Or will the obstacles in their way prove too much?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I'm back with a brand new family genre for an all new fic-type! This is dedicated especially to a dear partner and follower, John2851, who brought up the idea for this! I have always been a fan of Rio and this is my appreciation!**

 **Now, let's get started!**

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Rio de Janeiro has always been a place full of beauty, wondrous surprises and adventurous fun. And no one's found that out the hard way better than one Linda Gunderson, now, as of almost a month ago, Linda Monterio.

Rio had always seemed like a faraway dream, getaway for her; an ideal place to go to get away from troubles at home, but was just out of her reach. The kind of idea that was plenty of fun to entertain and Linda would be lying if she said that she hadn't daydreamed what it be like to go there at least one for a sparring week, if even, but she had never, in all her life thought she would actually go, much less move and get married there.

Yet, it had happened. And it had all begun when the most bizarre, yet the most awkwardly cute man enter her life when he almost skated/slid right into her bookstore. One Dr. Tulio Monterio had traveled to her original store with the sole purpose of bringing her long-time friend and almost brother-figure, Blu the Blue Sphinx Macaw, back with him to Rio to mate with a female Blue Sphinx Macaw named Jewel, to ultimately save their species, since there had been no other blue Macaw birds seen anywhere in Rio. Linda hadn't been entirely onboard with the whole idea, mostly because she's never really gone very far from home before and she was afraid it would mean saying goodbye to Blu for good, but in the end, she agreed, after catching Blu attempting to teach himself how to fly, she figured actually interacting with Jewel would do him some good.

Everything was actually rather nice at first, even if the pre-celebration of Carnival did catch her a little off guard, seeing the aviary for the first time was an experience Linda didn't plan to forget. It still amazed her to see so many different birds in one place, of different sizes and almost every color of the rainbow. She had been hesitant in leaving Blu alone with Jewel, but they seemed to get along and she loved getting to know Rio cuisine, even if the service did throw her off a bit.

Plus, it gave her a chance to really get to know Tulio, he was cut in that awkward, but down-to-earth, science-y kind of way and his passion for birds was admirable and it take her a moment to catch on to his type of jokes, but all together it was rather nice. But things took a turn when they received news that Blu and Jewel…had been stolen.

They had been stolen by a boy, no older than possibly eight or nine named Fernando, a local, who tried in vain to make amends by bringing them to where he had taken them, only to discover the poachers' hideaway barren and empty save a few feathers on the floor of a side room. Linda couldn't bring herself to stay mad at him, especially after seeing how guilty he really was that his actions could lead to both birds getting seriously hurt or worse.

They didn't get the birds back and it broke Linda's heart to think she would never see her Blu again, until she saw him _flying_. Her Big Brave Boy was _flying!_ And had carried Jewel carefully in his talons, who had injured her wing in their escape, as well as a white cockatoo named Nigel on his back, who seemed to also have injured his wings.

She had wanted to go home, but she saw how worried and protective Blu seemed to be of Jewel and realized her Big Brave Boy…had found love…and she didn't have the heart to separate him from her, even if it did mean saying goodbye. But imagine her surprise when Tulio mentioned seeing a place near the aviary that was almost literally identical to her store back home that was for sale and knew a few places that had spare books they could donate, including himself and she almost knocked him over with a squeal, knowing if she bought the place and moved her store up here, then she wouldn't have to say goodbye.

This, of course, led to her spending just as much time in the aviary as she did preparing her new store, which meant lots of time with Tulio, which in turn lead to maybe a couple more dates…or a lot more. She also saw much more of Fernando, who was volunteering as much time as he possibly could to work in the aviary with Tulio, caring for the birds. Linda wasn't sure if it was from guilty conscious or he simply had a curiosity for birds in general, but she found watching Tulio answer and explain whatever questions Fernando had adorable, so she didn't complain.

It wasn't until a full year had passed that Tulio had finally popped that big questioned and he had gone all out in both the way he was going to do it as well as the mood. He had originally wanted to do that big public display of it being written out on a game board, but Fernando, shockingly, turned him away from, saying it was something she wouldn't have wanted. So, instead, he went with every romantic cliché he could think of; wine, flower petals, candle-light, soft music, her favorite meal, he even presented her with a bouquet of her favourite flower; white callas when he picked her up at the store. When he finally showed her the ring and asked, she really did tackle him this time around, crying and saying yes so many times her face almost turned as blue as, well, Blu.

Then day itself was just as perfect, since both Tulio and her mother refused to give her any less than the best. Her mother had tailored her own wedding dress so Linda could live out her childhood dream of getting married in her mother's dress, yet gave it a few touches, like ruffling the sleeves so it looked like swan wings, like out of the Swan Princess, to give it some personality to better suit Linda.

Fernando had, apparently, somehow talked every bird in the aviary to take part in the ceremony, don't ask her _or_ Tulio how, but as she walked down the aisle to the man of her dreams, near countless of birds were twirling elegantly above, either dropping pink petals around her as she went or weaving long darker pink and white ribbons through the air in a magnificent aerial display. And as for the icing on the cake, Blu and Jewel led it all as every bird present sang as one in one big, beautiful symphony of 'Here Comes the Bride', Rio-version. As for the actual cake, her favourite, vanilla with cream-cheese frosting that was dyed blue with icing callas. It was all like something out of a fairy-tale.

And truth be told, Linda wouldn't have had it any other way. Just as, despite all that would happen, she wouldn't have changed anything that happened that helped bring her to this moment in her life. Which was what led up to this moment right now.

It had, in truth, started out like any other day, she had Fernando's attention for the day and he was being nothing but a delight with either helping organize the books or doing inventory or just tidying things up. Yet, as the day had worn on, Linda began to notice some things as she watched Fernando. It finally dawned on her that he would always be around even late into the night when most children would sound at home under their parents' watchful gazes, yet Fernando made every excuse both in and not in the book to prolong his stay either here in the store or at the aviary. At first she and Tulio both thought it had to do with the debt he felt he owed for taking Blu and Jewel in the first place, but lately, she felt that there might have been more to it and now that she thought on it, she couldn't quite recall Fernando ever mentioning his parents, heck she couldn't even remember ever seeing them at her wedding with the boy or ever meeting them.

So, with it now dark out, Linda and Tulio, who had finished his duties at the aviary early to spend time with his wife and young friend, were trying to convince Fernando to let Tulio drive him home.

"I'm stronger than I look!" Fernando protested once more. "We both know that, Fernando, really," Linda tried to console, "But there are a lot of bad people out there."

"And we'd both feel a lot better knowing one of actually _saw_ you reach your door safe and sound," Tulio added with as much concern as he could show, not wanting to scare Fernando, "Fernando, the _last_ thing Linda or I want is to wake up tomorrow to discover you missing and I'm sure its the last thing your _parents_ would want."

Neither of them missed how Fernando flinched and looked away a little, a shine of guilt passing over his face for a moment before twisting back into his facade of persistence and annoyance. A thought crossed Linda's mind, a thought that gave her an almost sickening feeling in her stomach, but she still asked, "Fernando...how _do_ your parents feel about you spending so much time here with us?"

Fernando froze up at this question, looking much like a deer caught in a car's headlights. This just amplified the feeling in Linda's stomach and it started to fester in Tulio, who said, "Fernando...you did tell your parents about this...didn't you?" But Fernando didn't response, looking very panicked as Tulio stressed, "Fernando?"

After a long moment, Fernando hung his head and finally admitted in a low voice, "No."

Linda's face, despite the cold, icy feeling in her stomach, pinched with confusion, "Why ever not? Did you even tell them how to contact you if they needed you?"

Fernando shocked them both when his face sudden morphed into a dark scowl as he muttered, mostly to himself, "Kinda hard for them to care when they're not-" But he seemed to remember where he was because he once again looked like a deer caught in the headlights and could only look at them with both horror and fear as they stared back now even more confused and even more concerned.

"Now what?" Linda questioned though she had a pretty good idea and she could tell that the pieces were starting to fit for Tulio too, but she had to hear him say it, so she pressed, "They're what, Fernando?"

"Nothing!" Fernando shook his head, answering rather quickly, too quickly, "Its nothing important!"

"No, its not nothing," Linda persisted. "Linda-" Tulio tried to warn, but Linda wouldn't listen. "What is it?" Linda pushed, "Are they alright? Are they sick?"

"No..." Fernando shook his head again. "Are they in the hospital? Who's watching out for you at home?" Linda pursued and Tulio could tell it was starting to get to Fernando.

"Linda, I really don't..." Tulio tried again. "I said its nothing!" Fernando insisted, "Just forget it!"

"Fernando, I'm worried about you," Linda tried to console, "If there's something wrong at home-"

"NO!" Fernando finally exploded, "THERE'S NOTHING WRONG OKAY, I DON'T HAVE ANY PARENTS, ALRIGHT? SO JUST STOP!" But his brain caught up with his mouth and his eyes widened in horror as Tulio and Linda stared back in shock, Fernando then bolted out the door, ignoring their shouts to come back.

Since then, Fernando's been avoiding them. It took a while for them to figure out what was going on with him, mostly it was them following him to his little tree-house to discover he was, more or less, homeless. A social worker had come by with food and would talk to him for a while and then would leave with a disappointed and concerned expression. It didn't taken them long to come to a decision about the situation, which was led them to where they were now, sitting in the office of the very social worker that had visited Fernando.

The woman was a little shorter than Linda with the typical Rio complexion of a life-long resident with equally dark hair that had been pulled back into a elegant, if a little messy and fuzzy, bun. She wore a smile on her face, a smile that reached her soft green eyes, full of sincerity and a friendly, yet professional nature. She wore a long sleeved, white button up blouse under a dark, navy blue, buttoned up blouse and black pencil skirt. This, coupled with her white stockings and black ankle boots, created a rather nice professional look that seemed to fit her and her job.

"Mr. and Mrs. Monterio," She, a quick glance at her name plaque allowed Linda to quickly re-learn her name as Lusia Flores, smiled on as she straightened out a few trinkets on her desk, before motioning to the plush, stylish chairs in front of her desk, "Please, sit."

Linda relaxed a little at the friendly attitude already being shown as she and Tulio sat in the surprisingly comfortable chairs. "Now," Lusia continued once satisfied with the condition of her desk, looked at the couple properly, smile still in place, "How can I help you two on this beautiful day?"

"Well, Miss Flores-" Tulio began politely. "Mrs, actually," Lusia interrupted smile not once wavering, a fondness crossing her eyes. "Mrs. Flores, apologizes," Tulio corrected himself, flushing.

"No harm, common assumption," Lusia assured tone warm. "Well, Mrs. Flores, my wife and I wish to adopt a child under your care, a boy named Fernando," Tulio explained their reason for being here, making Lusia stiffen for a moment, eyes wide in surprise, before standing, making a quick trip to her file cabinet to retrieve a file.

When she returned she opened it and took out a picture. When she placed it on the table, she slid it towards them. Linda and Tulio leaned forward a bit to see it was a picture of their young companion, hopefully soon to be son, he was standing with a group of other children, most likely other orphans. He was smiling, but it wasn't a smile that reached his eyes. To them, it looked...false.

"Is...this the boy you wish to adopt?" Lusia asked in a careful tone, as if trying not to get her hopes up. "Yes," Linda said without any hesitation, a smile on her face as she remembered all the times she watched Fernando bombard Tulio with questions and managed to pull the man away from his duties long enough to play a little quick game of football (soccer, not actual football) with him, "This is him."

"Oh thank you God!" Lusia sighed heavily in relief, much to their confusion, "I'm sorry, I've just been waiting _so_ long for that boy to finally get the family he deserves."

"What...what happened to his parents exactly?" Tulio dared himself to ask, making Lusia sigh. She only took a number of papers that had been paper-clipped together and slid it to them as she said, "As much as it isn't my place to say, you do deserve to know if you are going to take him in."

Confused, Tulio and Linda looked at the first paper and were confused to find it to be a report, a police report. A report of arson. A feeling of dread welled up in both of them as they looked for certain details. Uncertain points of origin, at least three possibilities; the fireplace, the kitchen stove and a corner where an outlet was located in the den. Accelerant was used, gasoline. The entire house was up in flames by the time the fire department got there. A neighbor had seen the flames and a person in a hood exiting the back door and jumping the fence, and had gotten Fernando, who had to have been only two at the time, out before the flames could trap them in. Two bodies with bullet wounds had been recovered from the wreck. Fernando was the only survivor.

By the time they had looked the whole report over, Linda and Tulio were both in shock and devastated, Linda had tears falling down her cheeks and Tulio, startlingly, looked murderous that Fernando had been put through such a tramatizing event so early in life and lost his parents. But the next paper had them both gasping. It was a newspaper article with a picture of a house up in boiling hot flames as a few firemen tried desperately to put it out as a few neighbors only watched on in horror as it burned. The headline read 'couple killed and arson rises suspicion', it read that Fernando's mother was an ordinary housewife and his father a lawyer, who had apparent crossed a couple of bad people, for both good and bad reasons and many theories were made that it had been a gang hit, particularly, the main suspect had been a client Fernando's father had recently failed to get an acquittal for and was now serving a long sentence.

But the next paper, another article, had Linda bawling in horror and sadness. One picture showed an elderly man with a striking resemblance to Fernando being led away in cuffs. The other a severely beaten five year old Fernando in a hospital bed, heavily banged, including his left eye and one leg was in a cast and was being held up in a sling. He was clearly asleep, else the reporter wouldn't have gotten such a picture in the first place. Put it was the headline that had Tulio look ready to storm out. It read 'grandfather arrested for abusing five-year-old grandson', describing below that Fernando had been given to his only living relative, his maternal grandfather, who seemed to have lost his marbles and blamed his daughter's death on Fernando himself to point of physically attacking the boy.

"Please tell the monster's dead," Tulio demanded the social worker once he found his voice, which came out in a growl, a very rare display of anger. Lusia wasn't the least bit surprised as she answered, "Unfortunately, no, but thankfully, still in prison, where he'll be rotting for the rest of his days, away from Fernando."

Tulio and Linda both sighed, "Good."

"He talks about you two a lot, you know," Lusia decided to change the subject, surprising the two as Linda slowly managed to calm down, "I've never seen Fernando warm up so quickly to an adult aside from me, much less two, like he was with you two. I think you two taking him in would do him a lot of good." Tulio and Linda smiled a little at this, glad she had such faith in them.

It took around an hour, but the wait was worth it. With an initial screening and printing up the paperwork, it took little time to fill the forums out and with a smile, Lusia had told them, "Congratulations, Fernando's all yours."

Linda, with renewed energy and determination to give Fernando the home he deserved, rushed for the store to retrieve what she needed to make Fernando's welcoming party a success. Together with Tulio, she whipped up a chocolate decorated with white icing.

Just as Fernando walked through the door, just as Lusia had assured them that he would when they had expressed concerned about him coming to them after explaining what helped them discover his situation, he was surprised to find the store was dark. But the lights were switched on to reveal a smiling Linda and Tulio, who were holding the cake for him to see the writing:

 _Welcome home, Fernando!_

"Wait, so..." Fernando blinked in surprise, before becoming timid and unsure, "You're not...m-mad?"

Linda's heart broke at how afraid he seemed to be of _them_ , but managed to keep her smile in place as she assured, "Of course not, sweetie, we can _never_ be mad at you, if anything, I shouldn't have pushed you."

Tulio smiled and nodded in agreement as they set the cake down. "We really missed you kiddo, so did Blu, Jewel and Nigel, and the others at the aviary," Tulio said as they sat around the table.

"I-I-I'm sorry..." Fernando said both still a little frightened and guilt-ridden, "I...I just thought...you wouldn't want me around anymore...I'll make it up to you, really I will!"

"No, honey, why would ever think that, we'll always want you around!" Linda assured her maternal instincts kicking in, "And believe me, you _don't_ have to do **_anything_** to show your sorry, we're just happy you're alright and you're back."

Fernando calmed down at the reassurance, but the words on the cake finally fully processed in his mind, "Wait, what do you mean 'welcome ho-" He cut himself off as he stared at them as they shared a happy smile.

They then placed a paper on the table and Linda slid it over to him. Hesitant, Fernando gingerly picked the paper up and looked at and nearly dropped up in shock. It was an adoption paper, for him!

He looked at them with uncertain, yet hopeful eyes that almost shone with tears as he asked, "R-Really?" They nodded, smiles never wavering despite how tears prickled at their own eyes at his reaction, "Y-You really..." They nodded once more.

Fernando, unable to contain himself, tossed the paper, ran around the table as the two stood and threw himself at them, wrapping his arms around them as best he could, crying tears of long repressed stress, sorrow as well as newly formed happiness. Smiling, the newly made parents hugged their new son back, silently vowing to craft new, better, happier memories, for both themselves and Fernando.

But when they pulled back, they realized Fernando had cried himself into exhaustion and shared another smile, a more sad, yet relieved one. Tulio frowned momentarily at how easily he was able to lift Fernando into his arms as he carried the boy upstairs into the guest room he and Linda were already planning to convert into Fernando's very own bedroom, to tuck him in, while Linda put the cake into a container to save for tomorrow.

He didn't know how, but he knew, tomorrow was the start of a whole new life. For all three of them. And Tulio couldn't wait for it to start.

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 **Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd DONE! I think I gave myself blisters. Can you give yourself blisters typing so many words nonstop? Or is that cramps? Either way, my fingers hurt.**

 **Well, John, I hope you like this chapter and to the rest of you Rio fans (assuming there are any left still interest to find and read this) I hope I didn't tread to far down a dark-ish path to make it too antsy or dramatic for anyone's taste. I just felt Fernando's past needed to be clarified, you know, give his parents' absence a sensible, if maybe a bit of mysterious and maybe a bit cliched explanation.**

 **Don't worry John, there will lots of humor in the next chapter, I promise! I just feel the best way to start any good family genre, especially one of adoption is to get certain details like this out of the way as quick as possible.**

 **Please, let me know what you all think in the reviews, I really like hearing what people honestly thinking. Makes me a better writer I guess.**

 **Now, I'm going to stop typing before my fingers break. See you in the next chapter!**

 **Oh and before I forget, Merry Christmas all!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, I'm back with the new chapter! I hope no one's too mad about the wait, I just got caught up with school. You might know how hectic things can get. Well, without further ado, let's get this chapter started!**

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It had been almost a week since Linda and Tulio finalized their adoption of Fernando and the boy couldn't have been happier. At first, he had been blown away with how his new parents had celebrated it by letting him put up all sorts of posters he wanted up on his new bedroom walls and then filling him up with as much sausage, pancakes, fruit slices and juice he could take the each morning for the following two weeks. But he didn't dare try to complain, he was loving every moment of it, he had always dreamed of what it'd be like to have a real, loving family and he had every confidence that this was it.

Currently, Fernando was sitting cross-legged in the family-room playing Call of Duty on the Xbox One his dad got him as one of his house-warming presents. Now, Fernando was far from a violent person nor did he enjoy actual violence, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that the level of actual violence was generally limited in the copy his dad had gotten him to go with the Xbox One.

This was how Linda found him when she came upstairs after switching with one of her very few employees to bring him up a snack before he left with Tulio for Bring Your Kid to Work Day at the sanctuary. She frowned a little as she spied the open game case and knew exactly what he was playing.

"You know, sweetie," Linda said as she set the plate of peanut butter cookies on the table, frowning as she looked at the TV screen, "I'm still not sure this is such a good game for you to be playing."

"But Mom its not even that violent," Fernando said in protest, "This is one of the really earlier versions, so there's less weapons and the graphics aren't even that...well...graphic..." He couldn't stop snickering at his rather well thought pun, whilst Linda just rolled her eyes in amusement.

This was when Tulio happened to come walking in, finishing up with his tie, semi-loose and bright and loud as the rest of Rio, just like the rest of his clothes, yet still holding a somewhat professional air. "Actually, Linda, its the most harmless out of the trilogy, you should try it," Her husband suggested harmlessly as he snatched a cookie, followed by Fernando.

"Sorry, boys," Linda smirked a little despite the scene on the TV screen, "But I'm more of a Simmer than a Shooter."

"You never know, Mom," Fernando shrugged not seeing the smile that bloomed on Linda's face.

Even after two weeks, they still couldn't help feeling so darn happy every time Fernando called them mom or dad or some similar word. It had surprised them at first, with how quickly he had settled into the idea of them as his parents, but they didn't dwell on it for long.

"C'mon, son," Tulio chuckled, pausing to kiss Linda's cheek, "We don't want to be late for Bring Your Kid to Work Day."

"Kay, Dad," Fernando nodded saving his game and turning the console off, swiping another cookie, he hugged his mother goodbye, "Bye Mom, see you later."

Linda returned the hug with a smile and waved them off, "By sweetie, have fun!"

She then glanced back at the still open game case for a moment, before shaking her head as she snatched the last cookie off the plate with an eye roll, "Not a chance." Grabbing the plate, she then headed for the kitchen to place in by the sink before heading back down to resume her work.

While Linda alternated between caring for tidying their upstairs living space that was their home and working downstairs in her shop, Tulio and Fernando were quick to arrive at the sanctuary and upon entry were immediately greeted by the other workers. Tulio had made a bee-line for his office with Fernando right behind him, until Tulio asked him, "Do you mind feeding the birds, son? They seem to respond better to you."

Not at all put off by immediately being put to work, Fernando gave a bright smile as he nodded, "Sure thing, Dad!"

As Fernando walked away, Tulio smiled with a sense of pride at how well Fernando took to the sanctuary and went to work. Fernando waved to another of his father's employees as he reached the door of the special habitat for the birds so they could fly and live comfortably and picked up the bag of special bird feed. He quickly glanced around inside through the glass to see if anyone else was inside, before smiling widely with a mischievous glint in his eyes before heading in.

Almost immediately, he was swarmed by a bright flurry of color and feathers, dozens of voices chattering at once around him. Yep, instead of hearing shrill squawks, Fernando, for whatever reason he was unaware, heard the birds' real voices.

"Hey, Fernando!" The yellow canary, Nico, greeted cheerily, bottle cap-hat ever present on his head. "Buddy, whassup, give me wing, give me wing!" The cardinal, Pedro, greeted enthusiastically holding out his wing for a bro's hi-five, which Fernando gently obliged with, watching his strength.

"Fernando!" The voice of a certain male Blue Sphinx Macaw cried out and every bird quickly flew out of the way in time to avoid the blur that was Blu plowing right into Fernando, nearly knocking the poor boy over, almost immediately, Blu began firing off questions, "How's Linda? Is she still eating right? Is she getting enough sun? Is she still running the book shop here in Rio? Is sh-"

"Blu!" His female counterpart, Jewel, laughed pulling away carefully, "Breathe," Blu did as told, taking deep breathes as he managed to stay in the air, "There, better?" Blu just nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.

"Sphinx Macaws," Nigel rolled his eyes at Blu's antics from his perch on a nearby branch. "So, Fernando, how are you enjoying your new nest?" Raphael smiled as he perched on the boy's shoulder, watching with a delight as he carefully fed each bird, watching how much he took out so each bird got an equal share.

"Its so amazing!" Fernando grinned having long given up trying to get the birds to use human terminology when conversing with him, he carefully scratched the top of Nigel's head as he gave the bird his share, making the Cockatoo smile despite himself, "Its just so...so warm and...safe...and I can't remember the last time I felt something like that!"

The thought made most of the present birds sad that a young chick was denied a safe, loving home for so long, but in the end they were glad he finally found it in Linda and Tulio. Even Nigel was smiling serenely as they listened to the boy prattle on about his new room.

Meanwhile, Linda had just closed for the day and had officially run out of things to do, having washed every last dirty dish that had piled up next to the sink, scrubbed and dusted every surface and even washed down the display window of the shop. Now, she was lying across the couch with nothing left to amuse herself.

At least, until her eyes landed on the controls of the Xbox and the still open game case. The headset that came with the actual game was sitting innocently on the table in front of her.

Sighing, she picked up the headset, "Why not?" Then proceeded to turn on the console.

Back at the sanctuary, Tulio had just finished most of his paperwork when he checked the digital clock on his desk for the time as Fernando started to walk in.

"Hey, son, why don't we go out and grab some lunch?" Tulio suggested as he turned in his seat to look out the window of his office, smiling at the cloudless sky, "Its such a nice day out and there's a place not too far."

Fernando smiled in response, "Sure, Dad, I'm starving anyway!" Tulio cringed a bit at the word 'starving', not that Fernando noticed, having his back turned. The older Brazilian male was immediately reminded of the doctors' reports, the police reports and the photo in the newspaper article that the social worker had shown them and once again felt burning rage towards the people responsible for putting Fernando in that situation, but quickly shook it off just as Fernando looked back at him.

Smiling sincerely, Tulio grabbed his coat and wallet, silently vowing that his son would never experience those sorts of pains again.

True to his word, the place Tulio had in mind for a quick, but filling lunch was just about a five minute drive from the sanctuary. Getting their food in record time, the father and son duo immediately launched into a random conversation about soccer.

"So, you think Brazil will beat the Americans?" Tulio questioned while eating his turkey sub. "Of course, Dad," Fernando nodded, eating his pizza sub, "Brazil is the number one team in soccer and I bet we go straight to the play-offs."

Back at the house, Linda was having a ball. She never expected to honestly to be enjoying the game as much as she was, but here she was, shooting enemies left and right with a wide grin on her face. And she was doing surprisingly good, in fact, she was leading an attack with some of the other online players once she figured out how the online playing worked.

"Man, you're good!" One random player told her. "Yeah, even I didn't get this far into the game yet!" Another agreed.

"Less talking, more shooting!" Linda replied completely focused on the game, even as she took a handful of potato chips, "Someone get that guy up there on the roof!" That said, she took the moment to eat the chips in hand and wash them down with a swig of ginger ale.

"By the way, are you a friend of Fernando or something?" The first player asked. "What?" Linda's face scrunched up with momentary confusion, before answering his question as she leaned back into the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table, "No, I'm his mother!"

Evening was quick to come and the sanctuary was put under tight lock and key, more so than before due to Fernando's little involvement with the poachers' scheme to make money off Blu and Jewel. After saying goodbye to the security guard, they drove home in a relatively comfortable silence, which broke as they pulled up to the shop/house.

"I wonder what Mom's up too," Fernando mused as they got out of the car. "Probably finishing getting dinner ready," Tulio assumed as he unlocked the door, "Honey, we're home!" But when he didn't get a response as Fernando closed and re-locked the door, he narrowed his eyes, calling again, "Honey?" He looked at Fernando in confusion, but Fernando just shrugged.

But then Linda's voice shouted out from upstairs, "Yes! Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Sharing a look, they headed upstairs to the family room where they found Linda still playing Call of Duty with empty bags of various different chips and empty cans of various soda cans littered and cluttered around her, a wide grin on her other wise concentrated face.

"Hey, boys, did you have fun?" Linda asked eyes not leaving the screen. "Mom..." Fernando said slowly, blinking at the sight in front of him, "Have you been playing that game all _day?_ "

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Linda answered without any hesitation, "You were right, sweetie, this game is loads of fun!"

"Looks like we're ordering pizza tonight," Tulio shrugged as he pulled out his cellphone, ready to dial a local pizzeria for their dinner. "No need, honey," Linda said without batting an eye, "I already ordered."

As if on cue, the door bell rang out, giving Fernando a mild fright.

"Fernando, sweetie, can you be mommy's little helper and get the door, please?" Linda asked never noticing him jump as Tulio gave him a comforting pat. "Um...sure, Mom," Fernando blinked quickly heading downstairs, no sooner did he open the door, he was greeted by the delivery guy.

"Hey, I got your two supreme all-dressed pizzas, two liters of soda and garlic dip," The teen said briefly finishing for the recite before demanding the price, "That'll be...thirty-two, thirty-five."

Fernando instantly turned and called, "Dad!"

"I got it," Tulio said as he came down, wallet in hand and paid the teen, adding a ten dollar tip for the trouble, he carried up the pizza, while Fernando carried the bag of soda, "Alright, lets eat...but first, Linda, honey, please stop playing the game."

"Not yet," Linda replied completely focused on the game, "I almost have the home base down."

"Um, Mom, I really don't think playing it all day is very healthy," Fernando spoke up in worry for his mom, "You might sprain your hands."

"Nonsense," Linda waved him off, "Hey, why don't you pick the extra controller and help mommy out?"

"Um, no thanks," Fernando shook his head nervously, cautiously backing into the dinning room, "I'm good." Linda just shrugged and continued playing the game as Tulio got an idea.

Leaning behind the TV, he spotted the extension cord they used to keep both the TV, the DVD player, the Xbox One and the speakers all plugged in at once. "Sorry, _mi amor_ , but this is probably going to hurt me more than this is going to hurt you," Tulio mumbled carefully hitting the power button with his toe, causing the TV screen and the Xbox One to turn off.

"What? No!" Linda bemoaned in disbelieved-misery, "I was this close!" But she was comforted as her adopted son pulled her off the couch.

"Its alright, Mom, let's eat," Fernando smiled earning a little one in turn. "Alright," She admitted taking a seat, "I am a bit hungry."

Tulio grinned in response, "That's the spirit, _mi armor!_ " Linda blushed a bit, having always had a weakness when he would compliment and call her his love in his native Spanish, smiling as she gave her hands a light shake to wake them up.

Fernando smiled widely as he finished putting the garlic dip on his first slice of pizza. Sure, they both had their quirks, but again, he wouldn't trade either of them for all the world.

This was his home.

* * *

 **And I'm done, yeesh that took longer than I honestly thought. Ah, well, better late then never, I guess.**

 **Oh, to the one guy that did leave a review, as you can see, Blu and Jewel are going to be in the story, I'm honestly not going to be writing a new story in a fair while with all the ones I'm juggling now, but like I've stated before in other stories, I love the challenge, but this is my limit until I complete at least two or three.**

 **Let me know what you guys think and be honest! Oh, and keep it to a respectable level, is all I ask in comments.**

 **See you guys in the chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**To keep this short and sweet, here's another hopefully fluffy chapter to the Monterio Family. So let's get the show on the road.**

* * *

It was another warm, sunny day in Rio and almost a month since Fernando was adopted. As usual for breakfast, Linda, Tulio and Fernando were eating bacon, eggs and toast with tall glasses of mango juice. It was a little livelier today, since Fernando couldn't seem to stop tapping his fork against his plate, his glass and on the table, like he was keeping the rhythm of song. Linda and Tulio didn't really mind, both being used to constant noise; Tulio from the sanctuary and Linda from the music she'll often listen to while working.

As they began piling the dishes next to the sink, Tulio caught sight of the clock, "Seven-fifteen already? Time certainly flies."

"Don't forget your lunch, honey," Linda said as she handed him the lunch she had packed the day before. "Thanks, Lin," Tulio smiled sweetly as he kissed her, ruffling his son's hair as he left for work, making Fernando laugh.

After the dishes were washed and put away, Linda headed down to the bookstore and flipped the sign to open shop. The routine had always been simple for Linda and Fernando, even before the adoption; they would alternate between the register and shorting the books, until just recently when Fernando volunteered to advertise the store publically and since there had been an influx of people coming into the store that had taken Linda aback. Even back in Minnesota, she had never seen so many people coming into her store all at once, even if just to sit and read.

Just as Linda finished placing some new books on their appropriate shelving, she noticed Fernando was about to head out to advertise again, carrying his sign and a stereo that operated both as a CD and a cassette player, as well as a radio. This was a scene she had gotten used to, yet for all her logical thinking, Linda just couldn't figure out how her son managed to get so many costumers the more he went out with just what he had.

Not that she was complaining. She was just curious.

But today, her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her, so she just managed to stop him before he could get out the door, allowing her to ask, "Hey, sweetie, do you mind if I go with you?" At his inquisitive look, she explained, "I'm just curious how you got so many costumers." She mentally prepared for any kind of protest or panic Fernando may have.

But instead, he smiled and answered, "Sure, mom, the more the merrier!"

Linda smiled back in response and locked up the register before leaving the store with her son. But as soon as they closed the door, a familiar red cardinal and yellow canary with a bottle cap on its head like a hat flew in and perched casually on Fernando's shoulders, catching Linda off guard, while Fernando grinned at them with a familiarity and delight, "Hey, Pedro! Ola, Nico!"

"Ola, Fernando!" Nico greeted with a wide grin. "Hey, little dude, ready for another day of ruling the park?" Pedro asked grinning as well.

To Linda, all that came from their beaks were chirps and squawks, but for Fernando, it all perfect words. So naturally, forgetting Linda's presence for the time being, answered with enthusiasm, "You bet!"

Linda arched an eyebrow quizzically, wondering who her son just spoke to, before realizing it was the two birds and she then remembered what the social worker had told when she had pulled her aside. While in social services' care, Fernando had a very had a difficult time making friends with the other children, while animals of all sorts; dogs, cats, lizards, birds, even fish and the local monkeys took to him as if he were one of their own. It got to the point he was more comfortable with the animals then he was, even in the social workers' presence and was always found holding conversations with one critter or another.

Truthfully, it brought a pang to Linda's heart, every time she saw him in the sanctuary, laughing so carefree with the hundreds of birds, Blu included, and being so awkward and borderline timid with children around his age. It also fueled her anger towards those who had put him in the situation in the first place by murdering his parents.

She understood why she was approached with it first, since it was clearing sticking with him and she was possibly what the social worker would think to be the most sympatic and understanding, which she was. She didn't hesitate in telling Tulio about it the night after they had Fernando's party and he had been very understanding. In fact, if she didn't know better, she could've sworn Tulio was encouraging it.

Shaking her head, Linda smiled as she turned the sign and locked the door. In a matter of moments, they were at the local park. Kids were either playing or strolling with their parents while couples in general were either strolling about as well or were sitting on benches enjoying the beautiful day.

As Linda sat at a nearby bench, Fernando set his stereo down and began shifting through his CDs. It was then that his feathered friends noticed just how tense their whisperer was.

"Hey," Nico spoke up taking a gentle tone of voice, his concern showing as he fluttered into Fernando's view, "You okay, there, amigo?"

"Yeah...just...nervous, I guess..." Fernando tried to shrug it off, only to get the opposite effect. "Nervous? About what, dude?" Pedro asked incredulously, "You must've run out of new covers to dance to and ya practice so much, what so different about this time?"

Fernando bit his cheek as he glanced nervously over to where Linda was watching and waiting patiently a calm smile on her face as she waved at him. Nico caught this, however, and hazard a guess, "Is because your mom's here this time?"

"No..." Fernando tried to lie only to cringe under the dry, skeptical stares they were giving them and soon sighed in surrender, "Yes...I just...I don't want to disappoint her..."

"Dude, she's your mom!" Pedro said simply, "She'd never be disappointed in you."

"But she would be disappointed if you back out now," Nico butted in, hoping to give their friend some confidence, "So, are you going to show her a real reason to be proud or are you going to chicken out like a monkey on a downpour?"

Not at all thrown by the metaphor like most normal humans probably would've been, Fernando just smiled after a moment of thought as he took out a CD, "Thanks, amigos," He then set the disk into the right part of the stereo and smirked, "Now, let's hit it." They smirked right back.

As soon as Fernando took his beginning pose, Nico pressed his talon down on the play button, instantly, music began to play and a male singer's voice filled the air, startling both Linda and the closest bystanders:

 **You know I got it, I g-got it**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy**

It was then Linda realized it was a male cover of 'I'm Your Girl' from that mini-series of Disney's Descendants.

Fernando began to dance in a sort of hip-hop type fashion that had a lean-sway step to it as he clapped to the beat as people began looking over. As this happened, Pedro were merely standing on the stereo, watching and bobbing their heads to the beat, wide smiles stretched across their beaks.

 **Every time you miss the beat,**

 **And life pulls you under,**

 **And when you need your rhythm back,**

 **I'll be your drummer,**

 **No matter where your comin' from,**

 **I'll see your true colors**

Pedro and Nico began clapping their wings as they joined the next verse as people began to smile and walk over to watch as Fernando got a little more intense with his dancing in preparation for the next part of the chorus.

 ** _Oh, ooh-ooh_**

 ** _Oh, oh, ooh-ooh_**

 ** _If you come undone, I'll be the one_**

 ** _To make the beat go on and on and on_**

At that moment, Fernando slammed his foot down on his sign, which had been in a seesaw position, causing it to fly into the air as Nico subtly raised the stereo's volume before he and Pedro swooped into the air. When the sign came back down, Fernando caught it with practiced ease and began spinning it around expertly as he continued to dance and as he did, Nico and Pedro skillfully flew around him, easily avoiding getting hit as they somehow stayed rhythmical with the chorus.

 **I'll be your A to the Z**

 **Even if trouble's comin'**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it** _(ah!)_

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

 **I'll be whatever your need**

 **Call me and I'll come runnin'**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(woo!)_**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

As everyone watching danced a little in their spots with wide smiles, Linda was just sitting their gobsmacked in shock. Sure, she knew that Fernando was a die-hard fan of Disney as well as a hard-core fan of covers, but she never knew it either extended this far. And his dancing! It was utterly amazing, it just blew her away!

Slowly, but surely, she slowly started to smile just as widely as the bystanders, feet tapping to the song's beat.

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

At this point, Fernando resumed his previous dance style of leaning and swaying, only this time with a little hop in his steps and his sign tucked securely beneath one arm, as Nico and Pedro simply swooped and swayed along with him. No one noticed the local birds were peering out from their hiding places in the trees to see what was going on and a number of them were either tapping their talons on the branchs, bobbing their heads or swaying in place themselves.

 **I'm a little bit sunshine,**

 **I'm a little bit starlight,**

 **Sometimes when my halo slips,**

 **I dance on the wild side!**

 **No matter where you're comin' from,**

 **I know what it feels like**

With a graceful backflip mid air, Nico and Pedro rejoined their pre-chorus as the local birds started to grin.

 _ **Oh, ooh-ooh**_

 _ **Oh, oh, ooh-ooh**_

 _ **If you come undone, I'll be the one**_

 _ **To make the beat go on and on and on**_

As Fernando started spinning his sign again, everyone save for the young boy himself, were startled when the birds all launched out of the trees, joining the two popular singers of one of their clubs in the aerial dancing, adding a stunning aerial show as they flapped their colorful wings to the song, but none dared to sing in fear of ruining the song itself with an overwhelming number of voices. Miraculously, none actually hit Fernando, who seemed to be in his own little world, feeling the exact same pleasure and undeniable excitement the birds were feeling as the music filled his pores.

 **I'll be your A to the Z,**

 **Even if trouble's comin',**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(ah!)_**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

 **I'll be whatever ya need _(whatever ya need!)_**

 **Call me and I'll come runnin',**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(woo!)_**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

At this point, everyone in the whole park had abandoned whatever they were doing to see what was going on, Linda practically preened with pride when she realized many were either taking pictures or recording the performance on their phones. Though whether it was because of Fernando's amazing performance or because of the birds joining in, Linda really didn't care. She was grinning as she stood up, still clapping to the beat as her baby danced his heart out at this point with his avian friends, swaying to the song as she did.

 **And if the road gets rough,**

 **Gonna be hangin' tough,**

 _ **Ye-ah, ye-ah, ye-e-e-e-e-eah**_

Meanwhile, in his office, Tulio was humming quietly to himself, listening to one of the cover CDs Fernando let him burrow, shifting through his paperwork. A particularly interesting cover of 'Friend Like Me' by a female singer had been playing as he was finishing up a report about Blu and Jewel, when one of his colleges suddenly almost _flew_ into his office, the concept of gravity and adhesion apparently failing him as he slid across the floor and rammed full force into the wall opposite of the door, making Tulio cringe as he hit his CD player's pause button.

"I really need to stop having these floors waxed so often..." Tulio muttered to himself absentmindedly as his college groaned in pain, picking himself up, before asking loud enough to be properly heard, "Si, Deigo?"

"You're son's really good friends with birds, right?" The college, Deigo, asked back as he seemed to bounce back from his collision with the wall with startling speed, "Especially that yellow canary and that chubby cardinal that keep coming and going as they please."

Tulio arched an eyebrow in both skepticism and confusion as he answered slowly, "Yesss...and...?"

Deigo suddenly shoved his Iphone nearly into Tulio's face, showing him the live feed of Fernando's performance, un-muting the volume as the song blared through, revealing another of his son's covers as the younger man commented, "Care to comment on this?"

 **If you get lost sometimes,**

 **I'll be your neon-sign,**

 ** _Ye-ah, ye-ah, 'cause I'm your guy!_**

Tulio just gaped at the screen in total shock, both at the abnormal bird behavior and at his son's performance, having no idea Fernando was such a good dancer.

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(hey!)_**

 **I-I-I'm, I'm your guy!**

 _ **If you come undone, I'll be the one**_

 _ **To make the beat go on and on and on**_

 _ **Be the one to make the beat go on and on (woo!)**_

Fernando repeated his routine for the chorus as the cheers from the crowd got louder.

 **I'll be your A to the Z,**

 **Even if trouble's comin'**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(ah!)_**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

 **I'll be whatever you need _(Whatever you need!)_**

 **Call and I'll come _(yeah)_ runnin'**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it! _(I g-got it! woo!)_**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

 **I'll be your A to the Z,**

 **Even when trouble's comin' _(I'll be your A to the Z!)_**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(ah!)_**

 **You know I got it, I'm your guy!**

 **I'll be whatever you need,**

 **Call and I'll come runnin' _(come runnin'!)_**

 **You know I got it, I g-got it _(got it, got it!)_**

With a wild, one-legged spin, Fernando finished with both arms up, balancing the sign so the writing could be seen clearly as the birds all flew up in one big grand finale.

 **I'm your guy!**

Everyone clapped and cheered as Fernando finished with a breathy-grin, "Come buy books at Blu' Bookstore!" A couple of people were actually either giving a whistling ovation or/and where tossing money. Nico and Pedro being the quick minded birds they were, quickly started grabbing the coins and paper-bills before they could be blown away as two green and yellow parrots held an old worn hat like a bag to put the money in, clearly used to this sort of thing as the other birds took their bows along side Fernando.

"That's my boy!" Linda shrieked happily grinning at whoever was closest to her, almost literally radiating with pride as she added, "That's my baby right there!" Which caused Fernando to blush as a few others who actually heard her laughed good-heartedly.

Meanwhile, Tulio was openly gawking at the screen as Deigo tried his best not to snicker, instead, the bright-haired Latino just said knowingly, "He never told you he could do that, did he?" Tulio just shook his head.

Later on that evening, after properly closing the store for the day, Tulio came home to find Fernando setting the table as Linda finished making dinner. As they began to sit down, Tulio couldn't help himself from asking, "Fernando, why didn't you tell us you loved to dance? Or were that good at it?" Linda shot her husband a pointed look, much to his confusion.

"Well, I guess mostly cause it never came up," Fernando shrugged, "And...I mostly didn't want to disappoint you..."

Both adults looked at him in utter shock and it was Linda who found her voice first, "Honey, how could you ever disappoint us?"

"Its' just..." Fernando shifted nervously, "Dancing is supposed to be something girls are good at, boys are supposed to be good at sports and things like that."

"You know, son, dance is considered a sport by a lot of people out there," Tulio said in effort to comfort his son, a dark glint crossing his eyes only momentarily, having a good idea who put that in the boy's head in the first place, "Besides, even if it wasn't, we'd never be disappointed in being good at something like it, especially if it makes you really happy."

Fernando looked up at them hopefully, "R-Really?" Linda and Tulio both smiled with nods, making Fernando smile widely, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Fernando never again started hiding his interests from them from that point on. Linda and Tulio started finding more CDs of all sort of covers, all over the house and in the cars, Tulio even found some left in his desk drawers. Amazing drawings of the different birds in the aviary were covering their fridge and and all over Tulio's desk at work.

* * *

 **And done, man that took forever! Hope you guys enjoyed this one! Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, to keep things short and sweet, I do not Rio nor any of its original characters, but, hey, a girl who grew up on these sorts of movies can dream, can't she? Anyways, here we go!**

* * *

It had been weeks since the musical event and summer vacation had just started, and the Monterios could think of no better way to start out the vacation then a family outing, and better outing was there during the summertime then a trip to the beach? Inside the home, to be pacific, in the kitchen, Linda, who was wearing shorts and a robin egg blue tee over her swimsuit, was packing lunches in the traditional wicker basket, while Tulio and Fernando, who were wearing their trunks and tees, were loading up the trunk of the jeep.

"I can't wait to get in the water," Fernando said excitedly, "This is going to be so much fun!"

"I feel the same way son," Tulio agreed as he packed the umbrella into the jeep, "Can't wait to spend some quality time with my favorite people."

"All set boys?" Lind asked coming out of the house, basket in hand and her favourite sunhat on. "Oh yea, can't wait to get in the water," Tulio said as he took the basket from his wife. "Can't say I blame you, I knew Rio was naturally hotter, but this is ridiculous," Linda remarked as he packed the basket in the jeep.

With the packing done, they were off for the nearest open beach. Almost everyone in Rio were at the beaches, playing in and out of the water or relaxing on recliners or on towels, enjoying the beginning of summer vacation., and the day in general. As Tulio searched for a close to the beach to park, Linda was putting on sun-block.

"Come here sweetie," Linda said turning as best she could in the seat to put sun-block on her son's face, succeeding with his nose and cheeks, "No one wants a sun burn."

Fernando smiled, rubbing the sun-block in without complaint, instead, he said, "Thanks mom." Before giving his mom a kiss on the cheek, which made Linda smile.

"Oh good, I found a good spot," Tulio said parking the car.

When they got out, they grabbed everything out the jeep that they needed and walked down to the sand area. Once they found a nice spot, they set up everything, before rushing for the water. Linda and Tulio smirked as they grabbed their son, who had tried to run, guessing what they were planning to do, but was too late as Linda grabbed him by the legs and Tulio by the arms and they threw him in the water. Fernando tried to get them back, teaming up with his dad to throw Linda a few times.

After a while, they went back to their spot to eat lunch. Fernando had a chicken sandwich with a bag of chips and soda, whilst Linda was eating a Philly cheese steak with mini blueberry muffins and a simple bottle of water, and Tulio was eating a plain PB&J sandwich with slices of apple and a carton of milk.

With lunch eaten, they posed for a family photo at the beach, Tulio setting the camera's timer, giving him time to run to his family to make it for the photo. "Say Rio!" Tulio said. "Rio!" Both Linda and Fernando laughed and not a second later, the picture was taken.

"What now?" Fernando asked as they packed their stuff back into the jeep. "We're going biking," Tulio answered. "Alright, I loved riding bikes back in Minnesota!" Linda cheered as Tulio drove them to a center to find bikes to rent.

Whilst browsing in the center, Fernando spotted the perfect bike and tugged at his dad's shirt to get his attention, pointing to it, "Hey, dad, how about this one?" Tulio looked at the bike that caught his son's attention; a classic bike built for three painted a lovely shade of blue.

Tulio patted his son's shoulder, voice full of pride as he answered, "That's perfect son." Fernando smiled, practically beaming brighter then the sun at his father's praise so hard, the smile threatened to break his face in half, serving as a painful reminder for Tulio the dark life Fernando had lived prior and when his son turned around, Tulio quickly served to frown darkly in the other direction so Fernando couldn't see should he turn around again.

Tulio idly wondered how long he would continue to curse Fernando's grandfather, if he could call the man that, but shook his head, the man didn't deserve the added thought in his opinion, abusers never did, no matter who the victim.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Tulio relaxed back into a smile as he went to the person in the front to rent the bike. As they left, all three of them were pushing the bike together before hopping on.

"Ready?" Tulio asked being up front with Linda behind him in the middle and Fernando behind her, taking the rear. "I'm super ready!" Linda answered practically boucing in her seat in anticipation. "Same here!" Fernando added leaning to be seen over his mother's shoulder.

Nodding, Tulio said, "Okay, off we go!" He then started peddling along with Linda and Fernando.

They rode around the entire city of Rio, enjoying the view and ride as a family. Little did they know, two people in particular had snapped photos of them. One was hiding up on a hill in the foliage and was quick to make tracks before someone could notice him, the other was a man giving away pictures of people for free when he noticed them and took a perfect family photo of them. When the time came to end the bike ride, the Monterios returned the bike to the center and went out for ice cream.

"Officially the best summer vacation ever!" Fernando said happily, eating his chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and holding his mother's hand with the other. "More like the best family outing we ever had," Linda chuckled enjoying her plain vanilla cone. "Can't argue with either of you, I loved every second of it," Tulio shrugged unwilling to choose sides, even if there technically wasn't a side to choose as he enjoyed his own cone of rocky-road ice cream.

Just as they were about to get in the jeep, they were stopped by a guy who had been clearly running for a while, a paper in hand and little out of breath as he leaned and balanced against the hood of their jeep. "Err, hi…can we help you?" Linda asked surprised and on-guard at the sudden appearance, subconsciously pushing Fernando behind her, learning of what had happened to him had made her increasingly protective, not that Tulio could blame her, he could be just as bad, especially when seeing Fernando around new employees or volunteers he didn't know all too well.

"I…I forgot to give you your free photo," The guy said once he caught his second wind, handing them the picture he had taken of them on the bike, making Linda smile and relax upon seeing it, especially seeing how beautifully it had captured Fernando's happy and almost blissful expression at the time.

"Thank you very much sir," Fernando said once he caught a glimpse of the photo for himself. "The pleasure was all mine," The man smiled back then waved as he walked away, "Good night."

They waved him off in turn, "Good night." Before piling into their jeep and heading home.

Once everything was put away and Fernando was sound asleep, Linda quietly entered the room and smiled softly at Fernando, who was peacefully asleep with the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face. It made her wonder how one so small and young have such a dark and troubling past look so peaceful and happy.

Arms encircling her made her smile up at Tulio, whispering, "He is so cute when he's sleeping."

Tulio chuckled warmly and lovingly in a low tone as he whispered back, "Same to you." They shared a kiss on the lips before heading for bed.

* * *

 **Okay, I just want to start off saying, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry this took so long to update, first you get caught with one thing, then your dog decides it wants to take a walk across your keyboard and somehow deletes all your work, still don't know how that one happened, then a storm shuts off the power and I lose what I was working on, again, then, I lose all that work once again, when my new laptop crashes, now I've been working with my old one and let me tell you...it still works rather well, actually.**

 **This is officially the shortest chapter I've ever written, I kid you not, but if my original work (RIP), was longer, I honestly don't remember and I felt bad for making you guys wait this long, so, this is the best I've been able to put together with a deadline I promised myself so I'd remember to get it done.**

 **Be brutal, be honest, but keep it PG, is all I ask. Please review!**

 **Until the next one!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, to keep things short and sweet, I do not Rio nor any of its original characters, but, hey, a girl who grew up on these sorts of movies can dream, can't she? Anyways, here we go!**

* * *

In hindsight, Fernando should have seen something like this coming. To put it simply, he noticed certain patterns of events with certain days. The worst the day started out, the better it got; likewise, the better it started out, generally, the worst it would later get. Don't ask him how he came to notice such things, he just did one day and he learned how to be prepared and observant because it. So when things got pretty even, it always made him really weary to leave wherever he had hunkered down to sleep. Saved his life a couple times, but that was besides the point.

The day had started relatively nice and had been just a few days since their day out at the beach and biking; his mom had made his favorite breakfast; blueberry pancakes and chocolate milk with orange slices. He couldn't remember the last time before he became apart of the Monterio family he had it so many times. Of course, like wise, getting distracted by Blu and Jewel's chicks, Linda ended up burning Tulio's breakfast of french toast and then spilled her juice all over herself when she went to grab some bacon for herself. But to be fair, they were rather small things and Fernando had been going a fair while without anything big and bad happening like before.

Tulio then nearly misplaced his tie and was almost late for work had Jewel not found it for him and he got out of the door just in time.

Despite usually spending most of their time at the aviary, Blu, Jewel and their chicks were pretty much free to go wherever they want and often visit the house, which turned out to be a stroke of luck for his dad. But from there, things just continued to teeter.

Fernando stubbed his toe helping his mom put some books away. Likewise, Blu, somehow, made everyone hot chocolate, don't ask anyone how, he still won't explain it to him...or Jewel for that matter. Then, Linda nearly fell down the stairs had Fernando not been in front of her to help catch and Jewel not been behind her to help him catch her, then business boomed when they got a big request for an entire book series by some american author.

It threw Fernando for a genuine loop, but he brushed it all off a little coincidences that just so happened to be balancing each other out.

Fernando and Linda were then getting ready to got to run some errands, beginning to run low on food and a few others things. In the master bedroom, Linda had given her hair a quick wash and rinse in the sink, unaware that her hairdryer got a little water on it while it was plugged in. When she tried to use it, it shorted, making her shriek, much to the birds and Fernando to jump.

Fernando instantly ran to the master bedroom, Blue hot behind him as they both called out, "Mom/Linda!" But only one was understandable for Linda's ears.

When they got there, Linda was, thankfully, find, thought the same couldn't be said for her hairdryer, as she assured with a cough, "I'm okay, sweetie..." But thankfully, a quick towel-dry and a hairbrush fixed up her hair just fine and the weather was quite warm so Linda didn't have to worry about a cold.

As mother and son got into the car, Fernando began to think about the strange amount of things that had happened all in one morning and voiced his concern, "Hey, mom, maybe we should stay home today..." At Linda's raised brow, he added, "Its just...a lot of weird things have been happening all morning and..."

"Oh sweetie, don't be silly, things are going just fine," Linda brushed off his concerns with a patient smile, "We're just going to the pharmacy and grocery store, what could go wrong?" Fernando wisely kept his mouth closed, not really wanting to think about it as he looked out the window as the car pulled out the driveway.

The interesting thing about the district of the city they lived in that aside from being widely a housing district, things like a grocery store and pharmacy, even a clinic were all in a relatively close distance, so some don't even have to drive. But at the same time, it didn't mean the streets weren't as busy as the rest of the city.

"Sweetie can you give me the lists please?" Linda requested Fernando, who was sitting in the back seat. "Sure mom," Fernando replied easily fishing the two lists of the things they needed to pick up out of Linda's purse, which she had put in the back with him. "Thanks sweetie," Linda smiled carefully reaching back for it while keeping her eyes on the road, when out of nowhere, a car cuts them off with sharp speed, making Linda shout in surprise as she uses both hands on the wheel to keep from veering off the road and wrecking, she honks the horn in anger, "Watch it, Monday driver!"

"Mom?" Fernando asked in concerned and she quickly calmed down. "Everything's fine, honey, just, not used to this sort of traffic," Linda assured with a nervous chuckle.

Soon they reach the pharmacy first. After parking and quickly checking her hair in the car mirror, Linda got out first, smiling when Fernando handed her, her purse.

"Okay we need a bottle of Tylenol and one of Advil, some band-aids and medical gauze, some more bottles of sunscreen, three ought to be enough for now," Linda read the first list, "Some toothpaste, under-arm for everybody and that's it."

"Okay mom," Fernando nodded. "Do you need anything while we're here sweetie?" Linda asked as she picked up a basket from next to the cashier, before immediately grabbing a few rolls of gauze and putting them in the basket.

Fernando seemed to think on it before spying the rack of normal prescription glasses and sunglasses, before asking, "Can I get a pair of sunglasses?"

"Are you going to wear them?" Linda made sure, at his nod, she nodded back, "Alright, but nothing over ten dollars!"

When he ran off, she quickly went down an aisle and picked up a rectangular box. At that moment, two women walked by and saw what she had grabbed, both of them started giggling, making Linda blush darkly. "Hey mom!" Fernando called, making Linda momentarily panic before shoving the box into the basket and hiding it with the medical gauze, she then turned to her adopted-son with a wide smile, "What do you think of these?" He was wearing a pair of sunglasses that still had the tag on one of the arms, the lens had an orange and red sunset-appearance with a black background.

"I think they're lovely sweetie," Linda said hoping her smile didn't look too forced. "Only seven dollars," Fernando told her. "Okay, put 'em in," Linda nodded and he excitedly put them in the basket, unaware that Linda had put something else in too.

It didn't take them too long to find everything they needed and as they approached the register, Linda remembered something and handed the car keys to Fernando asking sweetly, "Honey, why don't you go ahead and unlock the car for Mom, okay?" Fernando arched a brow, but didn't question her and only nodded his head obediently and lightly jogged off to do as she asked and Linda quickly took out the box she had grabbed earlier wanting it to be rung up and put into a bag first and further most before her son got back so he couldn't see it.

The clerk took one look at it and smirked a little at her, arching a brow as she commented, "A little late for these, don't you think?" Inclining with her in the direction Fernando had gone, making Linda blush like crazy.

"Wha-? No! No, he's-!" Linda stammered in embarrassment, "Its not what-!" The clerk just shook her head with a chuckle and rung everything up without another word, much to Linda's relief.

After that, they were on their way to the grocery store, when Fernando asked in curious-concern, "Hey, Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Linda smiled at him a little surprised by the sudden question, "Why?"

"You're face's been beat red since we left the pharmacy," Fernando answered tapping his cheek and in response, Linda blushed darker, "Did you forget to put sunscreen or something Mom? You know what too much sun in Rio can do."

"I gu-guess I just d-di-didn't put enough on," Linda stuttered slightly, trying to wave off his concern, "I'm fiiIIIINNNNEEEK!" She shrieked when, yet another impatient driver cut her off and she almost hit the breaks trying to avoid a wreck, "Fernando, are you okay?" She was worried he banged his head on the back of her seat, having her something hit something.

"I'm fine Mom," Fernando assured as he calmed his rapidly beating heart, "It was just one of the bags that fell." He reached down to get and noticed the odd picture on the box and rose a brow, but figured now wasn't the time to ask.

"Honestly, the drivers around here," Linda muttered upset, "You know honey, back in Minnesota, we don't unusually put up with this sort of thing, but I'm just going to let this slide once." Fernando wisely didn't say anything.

Once they got to the grocery store, Linda once again parked in the lot and this time, Fernando passed her, her purse before they got out, making her smile. As they walked in, she said, "Okay, we need five canned goods, two bags of chips family-sized, a gallon of milk, frozen chicken tenders, three boxes of pizzas and a box sodas," She looked to Fernando, who was pushing the shopping cart, "Is there anything you want to grab while we're here sweetie?"

Fernando glanced at the shelves as they passed before pausing to grab a cereal box that said 'Super Flakes', "Can we get this?"

Linda checked the price before smiling, "Okay, put it in the cart, and get the Super Strawberry Flakes while we're here." Fernando did so. Then they got the rest of the food, starting with the frozen food, then canned goods, then the milk and finally the chips and soda.

As they finished their shopping at the cashier, Fernando was loading the things onto the counter as Linda looked through her coupon book. Once everything was paid for, they loaded their purchases into the car, after which, they headed for home.

"After we put the food away," Linda was asking as they came to a stop at a red light, "Do you want to go and play some soccer?"

Fernando, who was reading a Marvel comic, answered, "Sure mom."

Linda smiled as the light turned green and started to drive forward, when a driver from the other side of the road went in front of them, much to Linda's annoyance and frustration as she shouted, "Oh come on!" Patience now snapped, she frowned, "You know what, that's it; Fernando hold on!"

Fernando looked around his comic, confused, "Huh?" But was too late to react as Linda practically slammed down on the pedal, going way above the speed-limit, much to Fernando's shock as he dropped his comic to cling to his door to keep from being flung about in his seat.

If Linda noticed, she was too upset at the moment to care as she caught up to the road rage driver and cut in front of them giving them the scare of their life as they tried to stay on the road. After that, Linda calmed down and slowed down, sighing with a satisfied smile, "Now that's much butter, right Fernando? Fernando?" At not receiving a response, Linda looked in the rear-view mirror to see Fernando was clinging to his seat like a cat that had the living daylights scared out of it, looking at her with a wide-eyed stare, breathing heavy from what had just happened.

"Now I know what you're probably thinking," Linda said returning her attention to the road, "But don't do what I did today; it was very personal for me."

Somehow, they made it home without getting pulled over by the police and started carrying their purchases into the house, where Tulio was sitting in the living room reading a book on Egyptian mythology, until he heard Linda call, "Tulio, we're home!" Marking his place, Tulio set his book down and went into the hall to greet his family.

"Hey honey, hey son," Tulio greeted with a smile, which then melted into a confused frown when he noticed how Fernando's legs were shaking as he carried things in from the car, and instantly got concerned as he recalled the roughness of his son's past, "Son, are you alright?"

"Yes poppa, I'm fine," Fernando answered despite how his legs continued to shake, as if ready to give out from under him at any moment, "Just trying to shake off the aftershock."

Now Tulio was lost as he turned to his wife for answers, "Aftershock?"

"Well, a couple of crazy road rage drivers kept cutting me off all day," Linda explained, shrugging, "So I might have given one a taste of their own medicine, that's all."

Tulio blinked for a second before realization set in and he said, "Ah." He then started to walk back to the living room, intending to finish his book.

"Hey dad," Fernando called suddenly as he handed his mother a bag. "Yes son?" Tulio replied pausing at the archway as Linda started for the bathroom.

"What are condoms?" Fernando asked curious and confused with an innocent tilt of his head, causing Linda to wide eyed and walk into a door from the shock, while Tulio lost his grip on the wall he was leaning on and fell over, both blushing intensely from embarrassment, much to Fernando's further confusion.

In the end, Fernando shrugged and headed for his room.

* * *

 **Now that was an eventful chapter I must say!**

 **Just have to say it though, cutting people off on the road is not only dangerous, its stupid and irresponsible and no one should ever do it cause it can cause accidents.**

 **On a brighter note, hope you all enjoy this one and that it was longer compared to the last one.**

 **Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter, hope everyone's week is treating them well! This fic's certainly coming into its own, so I'm just going to get into it with the early apology if it comes off as a little short, but in all fairness Slice of Life type of things just aren't my strongest suit where genre are concerned, that would be adventure.**

 **On that note, let's get this started, shall we?**

* * *

Days turned into about a few weeks since the dreaded shopping and road-rage incident. It took those weeks for Linda and Tulio to be able to look their son in face properly without turning bright red in the face and stammering over their words. Fernando didn't understand it one bit, but figured it was just one of those adult things he wouldn't understand until he was older, so he kept his opinions and questions to himself.

He tried to ask the birds about it, but a good majority of them, Jewel, Raphael, Nico and Pedro included, had no clue what he was talking about, while the few that used to be pets, like Blu and Nigel, got really horrified and embarrassed and told him to ask his parents about it. Something he was not too keen on doing for a while.

Things got back to normal though, thankfully, things took a much better turn for the better one particular day, depending on how you looked at it. Fernando was going to look at it for the better.

It started as a genuinely good, bit of a lazy day. One of those rare days both Linda and Tulio were off work, it was a bit cloudy and Fernando didn't want to risk getting caught in the rain if a drizzle did start, so he was playing Candy Crush on his phone at the table as Tulio, once again, had his nose in a random trivia-type book, a glance at the cover revealed it to be about geography, when Linda came in, carrying a package.

"Hey, mom and dad sent us something from Minnesota," Linda said with a smile as she set the package down on the table between the Brazilian natives. "Really?" Fernando asked excitedly as he set his phone down, "What did grandma and grandpa send us?"

"Hmm, let's see," Linda replied removing the letter that was taped to the package and read it aloud, " _'Dear Linda, your father and I miss you greatly, but we've never seen you so happy since you married Tulio and adopted Fernando, even if you are across the sea. To show how much we love and support you and your new family, we've seen you a gift, hope you enjoy it, lots of love, Mom.'_ " Linda set the letter down and opened the package to find Minnesota Vikings jerseys, each having a different quarter back's name and number on them.

"Viking jerseys!" Linda grinned happily as she picked one up, "This one's yours Tulio and this one's yours Fernando." She handed the two their jerseys before pulling hers out and quickly tried it on.

"This was so thoughtful of your parents," Tulio said with a smile as he tried on his own, "We need to return the gesture." But Fernando made no move to try on his new jersey, in fact, he was just looking at it with a small frown.

"What's wrong honey?" Linda asked instantly concerned upon noticing Fernando's frown, "Its not the wrong size, is it?"

"Huh?" Fernando snapped out of his thoughts and his mind caught up with what she said, "Oh, no, no its not that, its..." He trailed off, clearly thinking of what to say.

"Its..." Tulio tried to prompt, "What, son?"

"Well..." Fernando cringed looking very frightened and hesitant, "I'm just...not all that much...of a Vikings' fan..." He cringed further, as if expecting an loud outburst or a physical lash and deep down it tore at both Tulio and Linda's hearts.

"Is that all?" Linda said with a big sigh of relief, much to Fernando's surprise, "Honey, that's fine!"

Fernando looked like he couldn't believe his own ears, "R-Really?"

"Really," Tulio assured also looking rather relieved, "Kiddo, were you really afraid that, what? We were going to send you back if you didn't like the same sports team as us?" Fernando gave a timid, a bit embarrassed nod, "Never, not in a million years would something as trivial as that make us give you up, do you understand?" Fernando gave another small nod, not as timid as before with a small smile to match, but it was better than nothing.

Once again, Tulio was cursing the man that had the gall to call himself Fernando's grandfather. If the man ever got out of jail, and that was very big and very nonexistent if, one should hope he had half a brain to stay as far as the other side of the world away from Fernando, else it just might be Tulio who gets put back in prison, and he wouldn't regret it either.

A thought broke through the darker ones that made Tulio break out of his trance-like state and his face became curious as he asked, "Then what team do you like?" Linda also made a curious face, clearly wanting to know as well.

"Well..." Fernando said again hesitant, thought not in the same way he was before, "You promise you won't get upset?"

"I promise," Both parents replied instantly, holding up a hand as if swearing an oath, which made all three chuckle. "I'm a fan of the Carolina Panthers," Fernando finally admitted. "That's great hon-" Linda began but paused as his words registered in her head, and she did a double take of shock, "Say _**what**_ now?"

Tulio was understandably a lot calmer compared to wife, "Why the Panthers of all teams?"

"I just think they're really good," Fernando said in his own defense as his mom looked close to hyperventilating and pulling at her own hair from shock, "Especially Newton." Linda took a moment to snap out of it.

"Look honey, I don't know any other way to put it, but," Linda said honestly, "The panthers suck, like, so bad its not even funny-kinda suck."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with your mom this time kiddo," Tulio agreed, "They really do suck badly."

"What? I can't believe you two, the Panthers don't suck!" Fernando said defensively. "Ugh...yeah, they kinda do," Tulio replied.

"Well, at least they went to fifty Super Bowels," Fernando retorted with a little pout. "Only to lose to Devour," Tulio reminded him.

"That game was so rege," Fernando said. "Oh please, that game was nowhere near rege," Linda huffed. "Yes there was rege," Fernando countered, "Who would come undefeated and lose the big game?"

"Carolina, apparently," Tulio remarked. "Fernando, how many of those Super Bowels did the Panthers actually win?" Linda asked and Fernando didn't say a word, making her smirk, "Yeah, that's what I thought, at least my team actually won one."

"Okay, okay, I get it, you guys are right," Fernando said in defeat, grabbing his jersey and heading to his room, "I'll wear the jersey, but only because it was a present from grandma and grandpa." With that said, he disappeared from sight as his parents went downstairs to clean up the store.

"I can't believe my son's a Panthers' fan!" Linda said mostly to herself as she took the books Tulio handed her and put them in the proper places. "Look on the bright side Linda," Tulio said optimistically, earning him a dry look from his wife. "What bright side?" She asked him. "At least he's on our side," Tulio pointed out and Linda hummed in agreement unable to deny his point.

At that moment, the doorbell rang, making the two share a confused glance as it was well past closing time. Shrugging they went to the door to find a delivery man with a package and when they opened the door, he asked, "Does a Fernando Monterio live here?"

"Um, yes," Linda asked guard raised instinctively. "Sign here, please," The man said holding out a clipboard with an attached pen, which Tulio took and wrote his signature on the appropriate space, before switching it with the package, "Have a nice night."

Out of polite courtesy, they both replied instantly, "Same to you." Before closing the door.

"What did Fernando order?" Tulio asked skeptically as he looked the package over for any clues to what might be inside. "Only one way to find out," Linda replied taking the package from him and bringing upstairs to the kitchen, Tulio right behind her as she added, "I just hope its not what I think it is." She opened it up, hoping to find some fancy new electronic or comic series Fernando couldn't get through the store or something like that.

Unfortunately, a Carolina Panthers' jersey with Newton's name and number stared up at her from in the book instead. Tulio looked at Linda nervously as her right eye started twitching.

Up in his room, Fernando was trying to admire how he looked in his Vikings jersey when Linda suddenly shouted in a very upset tone, "FERNANDO MONTERIO!"

Fernando saw the delivery man leaving through his window and put two and two together and paled in horror, "Uh-oh..."

* * *

 **And I'm ending it there because like I stated before, Slice of Life genres just aren't my strong suit and I can't think of anything to stretch the plot any further. Let me know what you guys think and try to keep any complaints PG is my only request.**

 **Oh, before I forget, a really quick review reply:**

 **To monsterjamvadim: I just want clear up that last chapter I only added the 'C' word, purely because I thought it would be funny, everyone's got a different sense of humor, I mean, I can't write a mature scene to save my life without blushing like the Virgin Mary at a modern club and a few of my other stories actually are rated mature. Besides, I often add this sort of thing for the sake of realism if nothing else.**

 **Anyways, hope to hear from you guys, see you in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter, I must say, been a while since I worked on this one, but, as the saying goes, all good things come to those who wait. Plus it took me a while to figure out where I wanted this to go from here.**

* * *

 **The Monterios VS The Conterios Part 1**

Once again, it was just one of those sunny, nice days that just gave Fernando that 'calm before the storm' type of foreboding feeling. Linda didn't so much as burn a crumb of breakfast and Tulio got to work on time, and Fernando, still in the early stages of summer vacation, didn't have much to do, so he had settled on going to the park with his soccer ball. Fernando just didn't know why he had these foreboding feelings, he just knew that he usually wasn't wrong and boy was he not wrong about today.

Tulio smiled as he finished signing off the last bit of today's paperwork before stretching a bit before finally leaving his office and heading into the part of the aviary that housed the sick and injured birds to keep their wounds from getting worse or spreading whatever was making them sick, picking up a bag of feed as he went. He quietly hummed one of his son's Michael Jackson remixes under his breath as he went, waving as he passed a co-worker before beginning to feed the sick and/or injured birds.

"Why hello my little feathered friends," Tulio greeted with a friendly smile pouring some seed in an aqua-green parrot's feeder. He just started to speak to them in his perceived bird language when someone commented in amusement, "Really Tulio, you call _**that**_ bird communication? My _grandmother_ can do better than that!" Instantly, Tulio's expression dropped into a highly unamused and rather annoyed and resigned type of look.

Sighing, he turned a deadpanned look to the person who had spoken as he replied, "Good morning to you too, Amelio."

The Conterio family were rather disturbing, almost identical copies of himself, Linda and Fernando, right down to similar names, like the US movie-type of disturbing. Bar the names, the biggest differences between them were different hair and eye colors as well as some minor differences in their facial features. Looking at Amelio now made it easy to pinpoint those differences; Amelio had a sharper nose and eye shape as well as a slightly darker skin-tone, plus he didn't have glasses, his hair was black instead of a medium brown and his eyes were a poisonous green.

Both families hated each other with a passion and competed over just about every little thing, though the Monterios tried to be polite and the bigger people, the Conterios knew how to push their buttons and make it difficult.

"Morning Tulio," Amelio replied in kind, sipping at his coffee, "You know I can make better communication with these birds than you can."

"Oh please," Tulio scoffed rolling his eyes, "You can't even communicate with the dead!"

"Well then, watch this," Amelio replied and started speaking in bird language, earning rather freaked out and startled squawks, "You see, they know what I'm talking about."

"Well, watch me do it twice as better as you!" Tulio huffed before doing the same as Amelio had done, before shooting his counterpart a smug smile, "Top that!" At this point, the birds just started to look between the two back and forth.

"Please," Amelio rolled his eyes, "I actually went to bird language school, I know what I'm talking about."

"You wouldn't know the difference between a certified language school and a movie theater," Tulio stated crossing his arms. "Oh yeah?" Amelio shot back, "You just make stuff up as you go along!"

"Well, if that's true, then how come they respond back to me?" Tulio asked incredulously. "Because they don't know what you're talking about!" Amelio replied agitated, "Me on the other hand..." This led to them competing over speaking to the birds in their perceived idea of speaking bird language.

"I swear these two are the dumbest people in the entire building, subspecies included," A small green and yellow parrot, who had both wings in bandages, commented with a shake of the head. "Agreed," Nigel, who was in with a foot in a cast, "At this point the only human I even remotely respect anymore is Fernando."

Meanwhile, at the grocery store, Linda was shopping, picking out the ripest fruit and putting them in plastic bags before placing them in the upper part of the cart so they wouldn't get bruised. She just started to look at the frozen food section when she heard, "Oh, Linda, funny seeing you here." Linda softly groaned before putting on her best (given her situation) polite smile as she turned to the woman who had spoken.

She was basically a Brazilian version of Linda with the same black hair as her husband Amelio, with sharper eyes and chin then Linda along with higher cheekbones, and her eyes were a dark brown. Unlike Linda, she didn't have glasses, but did wear a distinctive forest-green scarf with thin earthy brown designs on it instead. Her clothes were looser and less constrictive compared to Linda's, but did own a bookstore like Linda did.

"Same to you Nevada," Linda said politely, hoping her smile didn't look too forced, once upon a time she would've loved to have been friends with the admittedly beautiful woman, but events with their families soured the idea for her. "You know, my bookstore is booming surprisingly well," Nevada said in false good-natured conversation as she grabbed a can of soup from the shelf opposite of the freezer Linda was at, "You might want to be careful, yours just might find itself out of business."

Linda gave a slightly forced laugh, "As if," She settled on a package of ground beef, "I've been selling books back in Minnesota for years and even after I moved here, I have yet to lose a single customer." They both started down the aisle.

"Oh goody," Nevada said sarcastically, before bragging with a smirk, "I went to business school in North Carolina and got a degree."

"Okay, but at least I kept and raised an endangered bird," Linda replied with a smug smile. "Well, at least I saved my little cardinal from getting hit by a car," Nevada said refusing to let Linda one up her or have the last word. "I took care of Blu when he was sick," Linda stated. "And I took care of Red when he had the bird flu," Nevada retorted huffily, "So that's that."

They both paused after turning into the dairy aisle to see they were having a super sale on the eggs and there was only one carton left. Linda and Nevada looked at each and began pushing each other side to side, then started running for it.

"I won this round!" Nevada cheered but then saw Linda skating with her cart at full speed and bypassing her. "In your dreams sister!" Linda taunted before getting to the last carton first, turning a victorious smile at Nevada as she put it in her cart, "Beat ya!"

"That's okay, I got a can of chicken soup for less than a super discount, plus I have a coupon," Nevada smiled back viciously, "Have fun spending more Minnesota girl!"

"You just can't take a loss, can you?" Linda asked with a slight frown as she pushed her cart. "I'm the best and you know it," Nevada replied smugly and just when Linda was about to lose and let Nevada have it, they noticed all of the lines for the cashiers were crowded save for the last one. Both women looked at each other before racing for the counter.

Meanwhile, at the park's soccer field, Fernando was minding his own business, playing around with his soccer ball when a voice called, "What's up Fernando?" Fernando bit back an annoyed groan before turning a polite smile to his own Conterio counterpart. Bernardo was Fernando's double in almost every sense save two, sharp features and he didn't have the ability to hear animal's voices like Fernando did.

"Did you want something Bernardo?" Fernando asked politely as he kept his ball in the air but also kept his eyes on the Conterio. "I just thought since we were both here we could kick the ball into the net," Bernardo answered a smirk appearing onto his face, "Unless your scared to face a Conterio."

Fernando wasn't about to take it and said, "Bring it!" Before kicking the ball to Bernando. They then began trying to out run and out skill each other.

"You're so going to lose Fernando!" Bernando said trying to score a goal, but Fernando stole the ball. "Never going to happen," Fernando smirked, "You know I'm the best player on my soccer team."

"True, I got the same title as you," Bernando relented before doing a spin-kick move and stole the ball back, "But I'm better." And they continued like this until sunset.

That evening in the Monterio home, Tulio, Linda and Fernando were sitting at the table for dinner. Tulio had just taken a painkiller for his headache and Fernando had somehow strapped an ice-pack on his leg. "So, how was your day Tulio?" Linda asked to start conversation.

"Oh, it was just fine honey," Tulio replied, "Up until I had to compete with Amelio in speaking bird; now that really got my head hurting."

Linda turned to Fernando, "What about you sweetie?"

"I'm on dad's boat, Mom," Fernando answered, "Bernando and I went at it at the soccer field again."

"Huh, looks like we all got beef with them, I had to play super mom with Nevada at the store," Linda said frowning at the memory as she ate, "And spent more then I expected to because of her."

The very next day, the family of three decided to spend the day out together for some need fresh air and bonding time as they wondered around the city, when they eventually spotted the Conterios. "Dad what are we going to do?" Fernando asked, not wanting to deal with them again after yesterday. "Just relax and hope they don't spot us," Tulio replied.

"Tulio! Linda! Fernando!" Amelio called out, "Hey, we're over here!"

"Too late," Linda groaned before they walked over to the other family. "Hey guys, are you signing up for the family competition?" Amelio asked them, "We already did."

"You know, funny you should bring that up," Tulio said, "Me, my wife and my son have already signed up for the competition."

"Well isn't that a small world?" Nevada laughed, "Can you imagine two neighbor families competing in the same contest for that trophy?" She motioned to where the first prize trophy was displayed.

"I know for a fact we're going to be the ones bringing that trophy home," Fernando grinned. "Oh please, we can beat you guys in our sleep," Bernando stated confidently.

"Now Bernando that's not a very nice thing to say," Nevada, surprisingly, scolded her son. "Thank you for saying that Nevada," Linda smiled thinking she may have misjudged the woman. Nevada then smirked, "We'll beat them without even trying."

"Okay, I thought we were going to play good sportsmanship," Linda said in frustration, her game face on, "But clearly, we're going to play shoot to kill!"

"That," Tulio said backing his wife up, "And you know the Monterios are going to beat the Conterios."

"Careful, Tulio," Amelio said warningly, "Don't go make assurances you can't keep." Both families stared each other down in challenge.

That night, Fernando, being the only dancer of the family, spent most of the time teaching Tulio and Linda how to dance as the very first round of the competition was a dance off. When the next day came, a large crowd had come to watch the competition. All of the participating families were backstage, mostly doing last minute prepping.

"I'm kinda nervous," Fernando admitted as they waited for their turn. "Its okay sweetie, we got this," Linda assured with a confident smile. "That's right, we've been practicing for this event, we'll be fine," Tulio agreed.

"I wonder what the Conterios have in store," Fernando wondered idly. "One way to find out," Linda replied as they picked a place to sit and watch the show from backstage and wait their turn like the other families participating.

"Welcome to the event everyone," The announcer began, "Now please welcome our first dancers the Conterio family." As he left the stage, everyone began to clap as the music for Poison by BBD began to play as Amelio, Nevada and Bernando came onto the stage dressed in street dance clothes to match the music and they started to dance.

"I know they didn't," Linda commented. "They're making sure that they win the first round," Fernando said arms crossed as the Conterios did the signature dance of Poison, by doing the same thing as BBD and when it was all over the crowd clapped with joy. "Now I know this means war," Tulio said. "Agreed," Linda replied before they went to get ready for their turn.

As they were finishing getting ready, Amelio, Nevada and Bernando came by. "Hey guys, we just wanted to wish you good luck," Amelio started in a feigned-friendly tone.

"And to make sure there's no hard feelings," Bernando finished with a grin, "You guys can keep the trophy warm for us when we win." They walked away laughing as the Monterios glared after them.

"Okay, now we _have_ to beat them," Fernando stated. "Agreed," His parents added.

When it was finally their turn, they walked out onto the stage as the music for Remember the Time by MJ played. Their clothes were a mix of Egyptian style with Brazilian colors and face paint. As they danced, they did the moonwalk together and when they did the lean in the crowd went crazy, no one seemed to notice a man in a dark jean jacket with a black cap and sunglasses recording the family. When the song was finally brought to an end, the entire crowd was cheering for them. After that, all the families that had participated came out onto stage, waiting to see who had won the first round.

"Okay, so first place goes to...the Monterios!" The head judged announced and the crowd cheered.

"We did it!" Linda squealed as they shared a celebratory group hug, "We won the first round!" The other families all congratulated them in good sportsmanship, except the Conterios, who were glaring.

"Okay, you guys might've won the first round," Amelio said begrudgingly, "But remember, there are still three more challenges left."

"And this time, its going to be us winning!" Bernando continued with his arms crossed. "Believe that!" Nevada added.

* * *

 **And I'm going to end it here, hope the wait was worth it, cause I can only stretch something so far.**

 **Tell me what you guys think!  
**

 **Till next time everyone!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I honestly don't have much to say in an author note, so I'm just going to jump right into it!**

* * *

Things couldn't have been any more tense or pumped up as the tension in the park the following day. The soccer field was being set up for the next challenge of the competition as all of the gathered families either stretched and/or went over their strategy to win, which is what the Monterios were in the middle of themselves. All of the families were given individually different colored tanks made of netting material over their clothes provided to set each family apart, mostly for the sake of the over-worked and easily-stressed announcer the committee had hired for the event; the Monterios had been given a bright, vibrant blue.

"Alright, just the way we planned," Linda said pointing at her husband, "I hold the ball and pass it to you."

"And I do some tricks with it and pass it back to you," Tulio nodded before motioning to their son, "And then give it to Fernando."

Fernando finished the recap, "And I bring it home!"

They all nodded determinedly to one another before putting their hands in the center between them, crying out in enthusiasm, "Go Monterios!" They threw their hands up high in cheer.

A few hours later, people were filling the stands, popcorn and drinks in hand as they waited for the game to start. On the field, the families were all doing one last stretch session.

"Nervous mom?" Fernando asked. "Oh no, I'm just anxious to beat those Conterios," Linda replied with a chuckle. "Don't we all," Tulio chuckled mostly to himself, his tone less than pleasant.

On the other side of the field, the Conterios were also stretching, wearing the same netted tanks, only theirs were a bold crimson.

"This is the day the Conterios beat the Monterios," Amelio said with a confident grin. "You said it dad," Bernardo agreed, "Its our turn to shine!"

Nevada couldn't help smirking, "They won't know what hit them."

"Good afternoon everyone!" The announcer almost literally boomed through his mic, signalling the start of the game, "Welcome to the second day of our friendly competition!" Everyone in the stands started to cheer as the announcer began to shuffle through his cards before adding, "Monterios and Conterios to the field please!"

Once both families met at the middle of the field where referee waited with a coin, the man asked the two fathers, "Heads or tails?"

Tulio answered first, "Heads."

The referee tossed the coin and announced once it landed, "Heads, its your ball first Mr. Monterio."

"Good luck," Linda wished politely to her Brazilian counterpart. "Same to you, Minnesota Girl," Nevada replied irking Linda a bit.

The referee placed the ball down and backed away before blowing his whistle, signaling the start of the game. Fernando immediately got the ball and passed it to Tulio, who became locked with Amelio, both going all out for control of the ball.

"All mine," Amelio smirked thinking he had the upper hand, making Tulio scoff. "You wish," Tulio huffed before performing a spin with the ball, catching Amelio off guard and throwing him off balance long enough for Tulio to score the first point, prompting cheers.

Next play, Nevada had the ball and Linda was trying her hardest to get it from her. "You know I was best hockey player back in Minnesota," Linda commented.

"That was in Minnesota," Nevada replied, "But here, Rio is my house." She hit the ball, scoring the next point and several people stood from their seats as they cheered.

Fernando was now doing some crazy tricks with the ball as Bernardo tried to get the ball away from him with little success.

"Not in this life time Fernando!" Bernardo exclaimed. "Well, I guess I'll have to make it happen," Fernando rebuffed before kicking the ball and scoring.

Soon it was half-time and the score was all tied up, a solid eight for eight.

"Linda? Fernando?" Tulio said, "I think its time to use our secret weapon."

"Right," Fernando nodded after taking a sip of Gatorade, "Let's do it."

"Anything to beat them," Linda agreed after snacking on a granola bar.

When it was time to play again, Tulio got the ball first and maneuvered around Amelio before passing it to Linda, who started doing a seemingly random series of tricks, confusing Nevada about what to do. Linda smirked and passed it to her son before the other woman could figure out what to do. Fernando was about to bring it home, when somehow, suddenly, Bernardo stole the ball, startling Fernando so badly, he nearly tripped up, but was quick to recover and tried to get the ball back, but Bernardo went backwards and spun around, this time actually causing Fernando to fall before he kicked the ball and scored the final point just as the timer ran out and the horn sounded.

The announcer then yelled, "AND THE CONTERIOS WIN!" And people cheered.

Fernando shook slightly as his eyes began to tear up as he let the fact sink in, his family lost. He caused his family to lose the game and the challenge.

 _(Flashback)_

 _Three-year-old Fernando whimpered as he cowered back into a corner as a man he couldn't recognize, drunk, yelled and screamed at him, "CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT? I ASK FOR ONE THING TO BE DONE AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID TO GET SADDLED WITH YOU!"_

 _Fernando bit his lip, swallowing his cries and screams as the pain he knew always followed screaming and failure came. First came the punches, then swift kicks once he was unable to get to his feet. Then the stomps, then things usually start to black out...if he was lucky..._

 _(Flashback End)_

Fernando jumped as a hand was placed on his shoulder and quickly turned to see the concerned faces of Tulio and Linda. He quickly dried his eyes with his shirt sleeve, but it was too late.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Linda asked in concern. "I'm..." Fernando sniffled considering telling them he was fine, but knew he wouldn't be able to pull it off, not when they've seen how upset he was, if anything, it just made new tears run down his face, "I'm...so-sorry..."

"What for kiddo?" Tulio asked confused, gently guiding his son and wife aside so the next family could get ready for the next game, "You were great out there!"

"But we...we l-l-lost..." Fernando said between sniffles and sobs, flinching slightly as Linda pulled him into a hug. "So, we did our best, and that's what counts," Linda assured a little startled by the flinch, "The Conterios just did a bit better, that's all."

Speaking of, the Conterios were nearby, raising a brow at how upset Fernando was. Though, a thoughtful expression was on Bernardo's face.

"We've lost things before, Fernando," Tulio said trying to understand what had his son so upset, "What honestly makes this so different?"

"Nothing, I guess...its just..." Fernando sniffled borrowing his face into Linda's shirt, "The last time...I...I failed like that...I..." Realization dawned on parents and they stiffened in horror, not that Fernando noticed, too lost in his own memories, however hazy they were, "I don't really remember all that much...the punches and kicks usually knocked me clean out if I was really lucky, if not the bat, but...I remember once...they couldn't find their bat so..." He pulled back and pulled down his shirt collar so they could see a faint scar, a scar from a knife wound.

Linda immediately pulled Fernando into a slightly tighter hug, trying to control herself at the revelation, while Tulio glared furiously at a random direction, teeth ground tight together and clenched his hands. Never before in all his life has Tulio ever cursed someone out so badly, despite Fernando not giving a name, he could hazard a guess who the 'they' was. But knowing how anger wasn't going to help the situation at hand, Tulio counted down from ten mentally and breathed out, feeling calmer, before joining his wife in gently hugging his still sniffling son.

At this point, the Conterios had wondered over and upon seeing just how upset the Monterios were, knew there was more going on then just losing the game and it made Amelio and Nevada very concerned, while Bernardo was worried for his peer. Despite their heavy, and admittedly petty at most times, competitive streak with the Monterios, that didn't mean they didn't care for their well-being. They weren't heartless jerks after all. Besides, Bernardo and Fernando's rivalry tended to be more friendly on most days, almost brotherly, something their parents figured stemmed from them coming from the same orphanage before Fernando took the loner route and began living on the streets.

"Is everything alright?" Nevada asked in genuine concern, reflecting the expression on her and husband's face. Linda looked to Fernando with one last warm smile, before she and Tulio took their Conterio counterparts aside. "We never did bring up Fernando's life before he came to the agency, did we?" Linda said though it was phrased like a question, she spoke it like a fact.

Nevada and Amelio shared a look, not sure where this was going, but something in Nevada gut told her she wasn't going to like it. When they turned back to their counterparts, they both shook their heads. Linda sucked in a breath, trying not to tremble as they weight of what her baby boy had gone through pulled heavily on her mind and heart.

"When Fernando was an infant, he lost his parents to a house-fire, somehow he was spared," Tulio took over for his wife, closing his eyes as Nevada gasped in shock, eyes widening, as did Amelio's, "Unfortunately, his _grandfather,_ " Both Conterios took a step back at how Tulio spat out the family term as if it were worse then poison, never having heard such a tone from the normally gentle man before, "Didn't take it too well, by the time the police had gotten there, he was barely alive."

Now Nevada was covering her mouth in utter horror, while Amelio looked downright furious as he asked, "Please tell the bastard's dead."

"No," Tulio spat, before smirking, "But never going to see the light of day again."

Now Amelio smirked, "Good."

Meanwhile, Fernando had sat down, having an idea what the adults were talking about, despite not actually being able to hear them, nor being at the right to angle to read their lips. He glanced up when he heard someone sit next to him and was a bit surprised to see it was Bernardo.

"You know...I thought you were really amazing out there on the field," Bernardo said, surprisingly, though it didn't stop the disbelieving snort to escape Fernando's throat, "I mean it, it was pure luck I was able to get the ball away from you at all, you've gotten way better since _Rio de Esperanza*_ ," Fernando cracked a tiny smile at the memories of their orphanage, "Though, losing a game isn't the end of the world, you were always better at basketball anyways."

"True," Fernando finally spoke, surprising Bernardo slightly before a little smirk slid onto Fernando's face, "Me and Tierra always managed to kick yours and Keyon's butts every time."

"Oi!" Bernando said huffily, "Not _every_ time, or do I need to remind of that one game two years ago during summer!"

Fernando laughed, a genuine laugh that surprised the adults from their serious conversation, as he batted away the finger Bernardo had pointed at him in his huff, retorting, "Like I asked, High-Strung!" Both boys burst out with good-natured laughter and the parents couldn't help sharing a little smile themselves.

"Feel better?" Linda asked as the two pairs of parents walked over. "Yeah," Fernando smiled a little in response.

"How about a good-natured, truce-celebratory ice cream?" Surprisingly, it was Amelio who suggested it, catching both boys and wives by surprise, even Tulio was a bit surprised, but no one could say no, in fact, they could really go for some ice cream. "Can we Mom? Dad?" Fernando asked hopefully. "I don't see why not," Linda smiled taking her son's hand, Nevada doing the same with her own. "There is good hour before they start preparing for the next challenge," Tulio nodded in agreement, making both boys cheer.

A rare sight could found a short walking distance away as the Monterios and Conterios laughed and conversed civilly over ice cream.

* * *

 **And I'm going to end it right there, sorry if it seems a little sort, but I think I hit the emotion-quota for this chapter with the return of Fernando's memories and I feel the need to update. Let me know what you guys think.**


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